Lanphier's Austin released from letter of intent at Tennessee

Wednesday

Apr 23, 2014 at 1:16 PMApr 23, 2014 at 3:22 PM

By Ryan MahanStaff Writer

Lanphier High School senior Larry Austin Jr. has been granted his release from his National Letter of Intent at the University of Tennessee after former Volunteers coach Cuonzo Martin left for the same job at California.

Lanphier coach Blake Turner said the release was granted without restrictions, meaning Austin can sign a new letter of intent with any school.

“Larry asked for his release and it was granted,” Turner said. “He just thought that was the best thing for him and he’s looking forward to finding the situation that best fits him as a student and as a player.”

Turner, who said Austin wouldn’t honor interview requests from the media, added that Austin took his time to see whom Tennessee hired. After choosing Donnie Tyndall, Austin then decided to ask for his release.

“Nobody wants to be in this position this late in the game, but he’s in a unique situation,” Turner said. “You don’t want to make a knee-jerk reaction ... but I don’t think he’ll carry it out too long.”

Austin, a 6-foot-1 point guard, averaged 22.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.1 steals and 3.8 assists per game, helping the Lions go 27-2, including a school-record 25-game winning streak to open the season. Lanphier was ranked No. 1 in the Class 3A Associated Press poll for most of 2014 until a 57-34 loss in the regular-season finale to Lincoln.

“He wants to go somewhere he can come in and make an impact,” Austin said. “He wants to go to somewhere they have an opportunity to win. He wants to go somewhere where he can get a quality education and earn a good degree. Those are the things that are important to him.”

Coaches cannot contact Austin directly until he has the release in his possession. But Turner had already fielded phone calls from schools that had offered Austin previously and ones that hadn’t.